I'm Still Here
by BlackBeauty613
Summary: Shane and Mitchie can't stand each other, always at each other's throats. So when tragedy strikes Shane in a way he can't handle on his own, can Mitchie prove that he really nees her? Oneshot.


**Okay, so here it is! My first Camp Rock story! I've still got a few more ideas in mind that I probably won't use, so if you want one because you're bored or if you have writer's block, mention it in your review or PM me :)**

The mess hall silenced as the heavy front doors burst open, letting the sun and a very angry teenager step through. All laughter ceased, all conversations halted. The only thing the Camp Rock attendants could do was wait in anticipation for what they knew was coming. And they knew it wouldn't be pretty.

The floor shook angrily as Mitchie Torres, a short, beautiful brunette with the voice of an angel stomped through the room until she reached the other side, finally finding what, or who, she was looking for sitting with his friends, chatting it up and pretending that they didn't know that Mitchie was there. But secretly, they knew it was on between her and the boy that obviously had her heated.

Shane Gray. Otherwise known as the number one asshole on Mitchie's mental list of people she couldn't stand. The two have been at each other's throats ever since last summer when Mitchie first arrived at Camp Rock and let it slip that she wasn't a fan of Connect Three. Shane was annoyed at this comment, but let it slide until he overheard Mitchie talking to her new friends, Caitlyn and Tess that she especially couldn't stand their song "Cancer", Shane's only solo on the C3 album. Little did Mitchie know that the song was very close to Shane's heart and everyone knew not to bash the song, even if they didn't like it. Mitchie, oblivious to the rule, had later said it to Shane's face. They have been enemies ever since.

"Gray!" Mitchie yelled, plucking the head of a black hair in front of her roughly.

Shane yelped and, holding the back of his sore head, turned around and said "Hey, what the hell—oh," he pretended to just realize who was standing there "It's just you."

"Who else would it be, dummy?"

"I called animal control to come pick up a sasquatch a little while ago. Guess they didn't get here yet."

"Shut up. I'm already mad enough at you," Mitchie snapped, crossing her arms and keeping the bottle in her left hand secure.

Shane mocked fake surprise and, holding a hand to his chest, gasped. "Me? Whatever could I have done to upset _you_, Torres?"

Mitchie rolled her eyes at his insult and gripped the plastic bottle in her hand, holding it up to Shane's grinning face. As he eyed the bottle that read 'Shampoo' he bit his tongue discreetly to keep from bursting out laughing. "It's a shampoo bottle. So?" Shane managed to say without chuckling.

Mitchie clenched her fist and squirted some of the contents of the bottle onto Shane's white shirt. It was a mixture of a disgusting brown and green color with a nasty odor, making Shane's mouth drop and his chocolate brown eyes widen. His head snapped up as he scolded "What's your problem, Torres? I was saving this for Final Jam on Friday!"

Mitchie laughed shortly and seethed back "And I was going to wear those gold flip flops, but they somehow managed to float to the bottom of the lake last week."

"You got me back for that already!"

"I know! And now I'm getting you back for putting algae in my shampoo and conditioner!"

Shane's usual rosy cheeks sunk to a deep crimson as he growled. "My mom sent this to me. My dad wore it to Final Jam every year when he was my age and won without _any_ competition! It's a tradition in my family that I planned to continue and you just ruined it!"

Mitchie rolled her eyes in an annoyed manner and said in a 'duh' tone. "Dude, it's called a washing machine. And your family must be as stupid as you are if they believe in that superstitious crap. I'm sure your dad just cheated every year."

At that comment, Mitchie found herself crushed against the wall, trembling against Shane's furiously heated body. All whispers in the room silenced as Mitchie's feet left the floor and her back slammed against the hard wood wall. Shane, jaw locked and fingers pressed firmly against Mitchie's shoulders to hold her up, had a look in his eyes that the brunette had never seen before. His usual chocolate brown eyes now turned a darker, blacker color as expected.

Then it happened.

They emptied. All emotion, drained of existence.

His grip loosened and his hands slid down her arms as she fell to the floor in a heap, groaning as her butt made painful contact with the ground. She looked up at Shane with angry, yet confused eyes. _Why does this keep happening?_

Shane just simply shook his head and fled from the room, leaving the campers confused and bewildered as to why he forfeited a fight. _Again._

Mitchie stared at the open front doors that Shane had run through just seconds ago, her face blank as well as her mind. What was wrong with him?

She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up, having her eyes lock with her best friends, Caitlyn and Tess. They both had looks of worry etched across their faces, concerned for their friend.

"Come on," Tess whispered, holding her hand out for Mitchie who took it. "Let's talk in the cabin."

Mitchie nodded and headed back to their cabin behind them, rubbing her sore and bleeding shoulders.

* * *

"I just don't get it," Mitchie complained after returning to the cabin and having Caitlyn and Tess help clean up her shoulders. "He was fine a month ago. What's with the big change all of a sudden? Why is he acting this way?"

Caitlyn shrugged. "I don't know what to say to that except for that he's a guy. We don't know exactly how they function in their heads. Just back off for a little bit until Final Jam. He's probably just nervous like the rest of us."

Mitchie sighed, holding her head in her hands. Caitlyn was probably right about him being nervous. She just hoped that it passed quickly.

Wait, what was she saying? She couldn't possibly be..._worried_ about him, could she? Never. She hated him. She hated him and that's how it was going to stay.

"Wait," Tess spoke up after a few moments of silence. "Shane exploded on you when you said something about his dad, right?" Mitchie nodded.

"Did you mention his dad in any other fights right before he blew up?"

Mitchie thought for a little while before answering. "Now that you mention it, yeah."

"What did you say?" Tess surveyed, crossing her arms.

Mitchie recalled "I said I hope your dad accidentally gets cut, I hope you get cancer, your dad just couldn't keep it in his pants and had to make you, and the thing with his shirt today." She put two and two together and said quietly "You think something's wrong with his dad?"

Tess slowly nodded. "He started fighting you when you said you hated 'Cancer' and you mentioned it again, so..."

The three girls in the room exchanged thoughtful glances silently, all coming to the same conclusion.

"Oh, my God, what have I done?" Mitchie whimpered, holding her head in her hands. Caitlyn and Tess walked over to their depressed roommate, Caitlyn saying "Mitch, you didn't know. Don't worry, it'll be okay."

As they rubbed her back, a thought entered the brunette's mind. Something she thought that she would never say.

"I'm sorry, Shane..."

* * *

Shane lay on his bed inside his cabin, his mind rolling back to the last fight between him and Mitchie.

He had flushed again. He exploded again.

He had let his father down.

Right before he had left for camp this year, his father had said to him _"Shane, I know that you don't like this girl, but can you at least try and be civil with her this year? I remember when I was your age and I picked on a girl at Camp Rock. Peer pressure got the best of me and I became her bully."_

"_What happened after that?" Shane asked._

_His father replied "I married her. See, Shane? If you just give people a chance, it can change your life. Just, please don't make the same mistake I made with your mother. Can you do that for me, son?"_

_Shane smiled and shook his father's hand, agreeing. "Okay, dad, I'll try."_

"_That's my boy..."_

That had been the last time Shane had spoken to his father. Being in the hospital for days at a time and being so tired from all the treatments really put you to rest, especially for the type of illness that Mr. Grey had. Diagnosed just six months ago and told that there was a million to one chance of surviving this nightmare put a strain on Shane's whole family, making them weak with worry and restless with insomnia, especially Shane. He wasn't even able to hop in the car and drive off to the hospital to check on his dad. No, he was stuck here in this friggin' camp for three months, apparently "improving his public image" At least, that's what Nate and Jason called it. That, or "just making the label happy."

Screw the record deal, Shane thought. His father was losing his life fast and it seemed like he was the only one for miles that cared.

Mitchie. Mitchie didn't care either. Although that didn't surprise Shane in the slightest, it still hurt to hear it. Mitchie didn't even know his dad for God's sake! How could she say such a thing? He wouldn't trash talk her family like that, especially if he didn't know them. And since that was the case, he was going to keep his mouth shut.

Shane sighed and flipped onto his side, a wave of sudden rage for his father's sickness, Mitchie, and life altogether washing over him. He closed his heavy eyes and as he succumbed to slumber, he growled "Fuck leukemia..."

* * *

Mitchie sighed again for the umpteenth time that day, her mind still lagged behind on her words to Shane. She never thought she would feel this for him, but she felt regretful. Now she knew why that song was so personal to him and had set him off. His dad had cancer. God, she felt so bad. Her and her big mouth...

It had been two days since that fight and the two hadn't done anything more than glare at each other from across a room. Mitchie felt the need to desperately apologize, but knew that she had to keep up her "I hate you" image. She couldn't give in to him yet. She still had a chance to win this fight and make him crack. Make him admit everything that he had been hiding under his harsh and hateful words. She still had a shot.

As Mitchie got up to go to the bathroom, she turned around and took a step before crashing into a solid body, taking both of them to the floor. Holding her head in pain, she whimpered. "Sorry..."

The boy groaned. "It's okay. I'm just clumsy." He stood and looked down at the brunette, freezing. Mitchie looked up, her stare automatically hardening into an icy glare. "Oh," she spoke up and quoted "It's just you," She hadn't fought with him in two days and hoped to start one to break the obvious tension.

Shane drew in the breath to retort, but just sighed, shook his now flushed head, and ran out not bothering to pick up the mess his tray made. Mitchie's eyes trained after him, cursing herself for not calling after him.

"_Damn,"_ she thought _"So close..."

* * *

_

...Friday…

Mitchie gulped as Tess stepped off the stage, breathing somewhat heavily from the fast paced song that she just sang. "Whoo," she sighed, holding a hand to her heaving chest "What a rush! That was amazing!"

Mitchie smiled at her. "Awesome job, girl. The judges would be insane not to pick you."

Tess rolled her eyes. "I'm just shaking with envy of your self-esteem. You haven't even gone yet and you think someone else is going to win."

Mitchie shrugged. "I'm not saying that I have no chance, it'll just be hard to beat that. Seriously, I loved that! You got a standing ovation for God's sake!"

Tess smiled and outstretched her arms. Mitchie returned the smile and hugged her best friend, saying "You're the best friend ever."

"Second best to you," Tess corrected her, grinning.

Suddenly, Caitlyn came running up to them and frantically asked "Has anybody seen Shane?"

"No," Mitchie rolled her eyes. "Why? He finally went back to Hell where he came from?"

Caitlyn showed no sign of laughter as she snapped "Mitch, this is serious! Nate and Jason are packing up their stuff."

"What?" Mitchie and Tess both asked in unison, their eyes wide and their mouths to the floor.

Caitlyn nodded. "Yeah. I was walking past Nate and he asked if I saw Shane. I said no and he told me that they couldn't find him. You sure you haven't seen him?"

Tess shook her head. "Haven't seen him since lunch. Did Nate say why he disappeared?"

"Nope. They were practicing, Shane got a phone call, said that he wasn't doing the show, and ran out. No one's seen him since then."

Mitchie gulped. There it went again. That feeling of worry and guilt. She couldn't hide it this time. She had to find him.

"Where's Nate?" she asked Caitlyn.

"Down the hall on your left, why?" Caitlyn replied uneasily.

"I'll be back," Mitchie dismissed herself despite their protests. She ran down the hallway and took a sharp left, scanning her eyes over the room for any sign of the curly haired teen. She finally spotted him sitting on a bench with the band packing up around him, his head in his hands.

"Nate?" she spoke up. Nate lifted his head to show his tired face with a tad of worry mixed in. "I'm not signing autographs right now."

"No," Mitchie reassured him softly. "I'm not looking for one. I'm looking for Shane."

"You won't find him. No one can." Nate sighed, looking away from her.

"I think I can if you tell me what happened before he ran off," Mitchie informed, sitting down next to him "Do you know who called him at rehearsals?"

"How do you know about that?" Nate asked on sudden alert.

"Did a girl by the name of Caitlyn pass by a few minutes ago and ask?"

"Oh. Friend of yours?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Tell you what," he turned to her "I'll tell you about Shane if you tell me about Caitlyn."

Mitchie gave him a wide smile and cooed. "Got a crush on my best friend?"

Nate rolled his eyes in a failed attempt to cover up the blush racing up his cheeks. "Back to the original question. Do we have a deal?"

Mitchie shook his outstretched hand and said "Deal. So what's going on with him?"

Nate sighed and started explaining "We were practicing in on stage and Shane got a call, so he left the stage to take it. He only leaves when it's a call from the hospital, so I knew it was important. Five minutes later he comes back totally gone. His face was ghostly pale and his body was all stiff like he was just told something he didn't wanna believe but had to. He dropped his phone, said he wasn't doing the show, and ran out."

"What happened after that?" Mitchie surveyed, totally into the story and not wanting it to end.

"The hospital called back. Apparently Shane hung up before they were finished talking to him. So I answer the phone and say that I'm his cousin because I wanted to know what happened but they would only tell family. They told me that…that…"

"What?" the brunette encouraged, touching his shoulder lightly.

"He died," Nate whispered, his eyes shining with tears. "Shane's dad. He died this morning."

Mitchie's blood ran cold. The world seemed to stop spinning for a moment as her mind took in the devastating news. Shane was a mess when his dad was alive and suffering, but now that he was gone forever…

"Oh, my God…" was all she could muster, blinking quickly. His dad was dead?

"I know. I couldn't believe it either. He was in surgery and it was the surgeon's first day on the job. His hands were shaking too much, dropped the scalpel, and it stabbed Mr. Gray's heart. He lost too much blood and they couldn't save him. I almost cried," Nate threw his head back on the wooden wall as Jason passed him with a sympathetic look. "Hey, man," he said "Any news on Shane yet?"

Nate shook his head. "Nothing."

Jason mirrored his actions and said "Don't worry, we'll find him. We'll keep looking after we pack the last of the stuff up."

Nate nodded. "Sounds good." He turned back to Mitchie who was looking out the window at the dark, raining sky, a thoughtful look in her eyes. "Mitchie?"

Mitchie snapped back to reality and said "I think I know where he is."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I'll be back." She got up to leave but found her wrist being grabbed. She turned around to see Nate taking hold of her arm with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"I kept my side of the deal. Caitlyn, remember?"

Mitchie rolled her eyes and sighed "Whatever." She grabbed a pen sticking out of Nate's jacket and grabbed his hand, scribbling a few things down on his palm. "Here's her number. No one can tell you about her better than her. Can I leave now?"

Nate took a look at his hand, a smile quickly spreading across his face. "Go ahead. Good luck."

As Mitchie headed for the back doors of Camp Rock, Nate reached in his other pocket and pulled out his cell phone, typing her number in and saying to himself "Let's see if there really is such thing as love at first sight..."

* * *

"Shane!" Mitchie called out to the storm, barely being able to see the hand in front of her face. It was dark, cold, and pouring rain which made it that much more difficult to find the depressed teenager. Mitchie hugged herself to try and keep warm, but obviously didn't work too well for her. Still, in all her physical misery, she continued to walk through the deep rain puddles that had formed on the ground and call "Shane! Shane, come on! Where are you?"

By now she was about ten minutes away from the building and walking fast. She couldn't remember when she had been this worried. It was very easy to get hurt in this weather and since Shane was in a state of deep depression, God knows what he could do to himself out here.

Mitchie called one last time "Shane!" and leaned against a tree behind her, sliding to her butt on the muddy ground, hugging her knees to her chest. "Where are you?" she whispered to herself and no one in particular. She sighed and threw her head back on the wet bark, closing her eyes to try and think clearer. Where would Shane be if he was upset about something? Think like Shane, she told herself, think like Shane...

A branch broke in front of her, probably fifteen feet away. Her eyes snapped open to reveal a dark figure sitting on the ground in front of the lake, wearing a white dress shirt and ripped jeans. Their arms rested on their bent knees while their head stared straight out at the lake.

Mitchie got up from her spot on the ground silently and stepped a few steps closer. Shaggy black hair that fell in front of his face and tear stains running down his cheeks. His eyes, hard to see from their dark depressed color, looked brown. Chocolate brown...

Mitchie walked up behind him and just stood there, saying nothing but knowing that he knew she was there. She finally found him, but never planned on what she would say. He hated her. She was probably on the bottom of Shane's list of people he wanted to talk to at the moment.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by a heavy, watery sigh leaving his lips. Mitchie crouched down beside him and said softly "Hey," No reply. Just as she expected.

She fully sat down on her bottom and looked ahead of her, seeing the lake rise slightly from the powerful rainfall that was overcoming them. She looked up. You couldn't even see the stars. It was as if the heavens were crying along with Shane.

"He's gone..." Mitchie turned her head and saw Shane's dead eyes well up with tears again, not even bothering to hold them back.

"I'm sorry," she pathetically apologized, touching his shoulder lightly. He didn't even flinch like he usually did when she came in contact with him. This wasn't the Shane she knew.

"He's gone, Mitchie," Shane said, his voice cracking and watery as the tears poured down his face like the rain fell from the sky. "I didn't even get to say goodbye."

Mitchie moved her hand from his shoulder to his back and began stroking it, finding it hard to deny that she was about to cry.

"You'll see him again, don't worry." She tried, seeing his bottom lip start to quiver.

"I lost him," he sobbed, biting his lip for a little self control. "I lost him and I can't ever get him back. I lost everything."

Mitchie didn't even need to decide to take a chance to do this. She extended her other arm and pulled Shane towards her in a tight, comforting hug. "No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did," Shane quietly bawled into her shoulder, scooting closer to her and placing his arms in her lap "He was my only sense of comfort and now he's gone. I lost everyone!"

Mitchie shook her head and stroked Shane's drenched hair, letting a tear escape her eye. "No, you didn't,"

Shane had now fully surrendered to his sobs, letting them rattle his body and making him tremble from every limb. As his arms wrapped around her waist, Mitchie kissed his forehead and whispered _"I'm Still Here..."

* * *

_

**Hmm...not too thrilled with that one, but I'll let you tell me what you think.**

**REVIEW! Thanks :)**

**Rachel :)**

**Oh, yeah, and this is a oneshot. Don't put it on alert or anything because it doesn't continue from here. You can make up your own ending or full story but don't expect anything from me.**


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